Creatures Of The Deep

One of my favorite habitats is the deep sea. Sometimes I think of it as, something out of a sci fi film, because not only the bright lights that the creatures make, look like stars, but it’s because some of them look like aliens and some of their behaviors are unknown to scientists.

The deep sea is also where the longest mountain rage is found, it’s called the Mid Atlantic Ridge.

Today I’m going to talk about a few deep sea creatures, some that I have seen. Let’s start at the sunlight zone, which is where all the sunlight can be found.

The Sunlight Zone: Octopus

One animal I’ve seen that lives in the sunlight zone is the giant pacific octopus. Some people might ask, are the octopuses limbs, arms or legs? According to what I have studied, some people believe the octopus has two legs and six arms. How is that true? When exploring on the ocean floor, the octopus will use it’s front two limbs for a certain purpose, while the others are used for other purposes. The octopus is so flexible, it can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter. And it’s also so smart that it can camouflage itself with special pigment cells that act almost like your TV screen. The octopus can change quickly into many different colors. Like the TV screen that flashes a variety of continual colors. It was Jesus the designer that put these things in it for His glory.

The Twilight Zone: Barreleye fish

One deep sea fish, found in the twilight zone is the barreleye. These fish have very weird faces. Not only because it has a see through head, but it has two cylinder shaped eyes that usually look up. Their eyes are positioned that way, to help find jelly fish swimming above, in order to snatch any microscopic animals out of the jelly’s tentacles. There are three different species of barreleye fish, two of them we do not know much about.

The Midnight Zone: Angler Fish

One of the most popular deep sea fish is the angler fish. Famous for the long lure it has over it’s head, which is filled with glowing bacteria. It’s called bioluminescence, or in other words light given off by a living thing. Many species of angler fish use it for hunting. Some species will swallow prey as big as themselves like squid. These fish perform one of the most weirdest mating rituals on earth. The male, (which is only 1 inch in length) smells chemicals, with a white organ in front of his eyes, that the large female (which is about 11 inches long) with the lure on top of her head, sprays in order for the male to find her. Once they find each other, the male bites at her belly, and needs to get permanently attached. After spawning with her the male stays stuck to the female for the rest of his life, and the only food the male will survive on is the female’s blood.

The Abyssal Zone: Spotted Ratfish and Hag fish

The spotted Ratfish can be found in the deepest depths where there is no sunlight at all. Found only along the pacific Northwest, these fish can be found around 160 to 1,310 ft. deep along the ocean floor, feeding on crabs and clams with their plate-shaped teeth. In spawning season, which is around spring and autumn, male ratfish make drumming sounds to attract a mate. If she likes it she will swim over and spawn with him. One spotted ratfish off the coast of Puget Sound, was actually an albino.

Another abyssal zone fish is the hagfish, which is one kind of animal that you do not want to touch. When threatened by a predator like a shark or big fish, it covers it’s whole body in thick slime. Hagfish are both hunters and scavengers. They will hunt fish, but also scavenge on a whale fall. In case you don’t know, a whale fall is a dead body of a whale that sinks to the bottom, that will become food for all kinds of deep sea life, including hagfish. They twist themselves in knots to rip chunks of meat off.

The Trench Zone: Life at the bottom

Back before deep sea exploration began, scientists thought all life depended on the sun for energy. But around the 1980’s it was discovered at the very bottom of the ocean that the animals down there got no energy from the sun. What the creatures eat are bacteria that pour from the hydrothermal vents. The bacteria sort of act like plants that grow on land. Without it, animals like Giant tube worms, vent shrimps, white crabs, and Pompeii worms wouldn’t exist. Crabs and shrimps will sometimes steal bacteria from the tube worms. Tube worms have no gut, no mouth, just red hairy plumes to collect the bacteria to eat, and gills at the top so they can breathe. Some can grow 8 to 10 ft. long! Another deep sea worm is the Pompeii worm, (which is only 5.1 inches long) is considered by some scientists to be the one of the most heat-tolerant animals on earth! They live right on the boiling hot hydrothermal vents, and survive temperatures as high as 176 degrees to 221 degrees Fahrenheit .

Similarity with the Gospel

The bacteria, that the tube worms and other creatures eat, act similar to the word of God. Without the bacteria that pour from the vents, life down there wouldn’t even exist. And if Jesus and his word weren’t true, there would be no life after death. Evolutionists say when we die we become nothing and go back into the ground. How sad! Jesus is real. God who created life, came into the world, through Jesus his son, to preach the good news(which is ever lasting life). He died on the cross, to pay the penalty for sin, and then rose from the dead. He did this because there is life after death. One that leads to torment and fear, when someone chooses to live a sinful life and refuses the Gospel. The other peace and joy forever with Jesus, because they believe. No matter how difficult life is for a believer, as we keep trusting and following in Jesus, He is our helper, and guide. His word feeds our soul to give us everlasting life.

God bless!

“Praise the Lord from the earth, ye sea creatures and all deeps” Psalms 148:7

“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, shall Thy hand lead me. And Thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalms 139:9-10